Product Liability Essay -- essays research papers fc

In this age of residuumless lawsuits and litigation from everyone suing everyone else, one must ask the question where does harvest-home liability end and consumer responsibility begin? This question has been further complicated by occurrences that prolong to the most far- stretchinessing ends of this spectrum, the spectrum ranging from strict product liability of the company to complete consumer responsibility. On the strict product liability of the company side, we have the cig bette perseverance where the CEOs of the largest cigarette companies denied that their product was liable for the cause of addiction. Almost all consumers see that the ingredient nicotine in cigarettes is addictive, due to extensive scientific testing and reports on this fact. What these CEOs should have done was admit that they knew nicotine was addictive, and therefore do their product liable so as to give a just warning to unknowing consumers. On the complete consumer responsibility side, we can take apart the lawsuit where a man sued McDonalds for over a one thousand million dollars because he spilled a cup of their coffee on his self and suffered burns. He claimed that McDonalds was liable because there was not a warning on the lid that stated that the coffee was hot. In my opinion, this lawsuit should have never happened. The consumer is attempting to alleviate all of the responsibility from himself for spilling his coffee and pass it on to the manufacturing business of the product. Frivolous lawsuits much(prenominal) as this, as well as companies helplessness to consider the importance of product liability, have resulted in an increasing yearbook product liability bill. Last year alone $4 gazillion was spent on product liability lawsuits and settlements (McAdams, p.636). This staggering number suggests that maybe we need to reform our liability system. Ideally, we as a society would equivalent to reach a happy medium between strict product liability of the compa ny and complete consumer responsibility. If this occurred, lawsuits such as this would no nightlong drain our legal systems because an understanding would exist that the responsibility rests equally in both parties hands. However, that is an ideal situation, which rarely ever occurs in the real world. In the real world, tradeoffs must be made in order to reach equilibrium. These tradeoffs between strict product liability and consumer responsibility will be discussed in light of the situati... ...g to act, but just a little prevalent sense should tell you that releasing a movie with the content such as Boyz N the Hood and only focusing on its damaging themes will send the wrong message, especially in metro areas where crimes and gangs are prevalent.In an ideal world, consumers and companies would equally share the burdens of product liability and consumer responsibility. However, in the real world, we must make tradeoffs between these two. How we do this will not only affect our legal environment, but our economic and social environments as well. Works CitedAnonymous, Industrial Distribution, New York, April 2000, Volume 89, issue 4, p.36.Brostoff, Steven, National Underwriter, Chicago, family line 2000, volume 104, issue 38, p.2Eckert, Stephen, Marketing News, Chicago, April 2000, Volume 34, issue 9, p. 49.Giliberti, Frank, Marketing Management, Chicago, overwinter 1999, Volume 8, issue 4, pp. 53-54.Lamnetti, David, The Business Lawyer, Chicago, February 2000, Volume 55, issue 2, p. 799.McAdams, Tony, Law, Business, and Society, Irwin/McGraw-Hill, New York, 2001, one-sixth Edition, p. 636.